Wooly Surprise
by JunaN
Summary: Mostly a feel good story. Molly had planned a quiet day but ends up having a little adventure.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the world and characters of Harry Potter and make no money with this story.

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– **Wooly Surprise -**

 _By - JunaN -_

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"Ah, finally some peace and quiet!" Molly Weasley thought, as she planted herself in a comfortable armchair, a relaxed smile on her face, and took up her knitting. The kids had left for Hogwarts yesterday, having spent the winter holidays at home, and Arthur was back at work in the ministry. During Christmas and the turn of the year, the Burrow had been crowded with people – family and close friends alike. Molly really lived for her family, but as much as she loved them all, and contrary to what many people probably believed, she was perfectly capable of enjoying some time for herself, even longing for it... and there it finally was, after she had spent all of yesterday and the morning with cleaning up the house.

She was working on a springtime cardigan for Ginny and let her mind stray. It had been such a busy and eventful year. One year ago she never would have dreamt of having Sirius Black at her dinner table. She was so glad for Harry that he finally had something like a living relative that he could look up to. And Ginny had really started to blossom. She was a proper little lady now, not a little girl any more.

After a blissful half hour of knitting and quiet rumination, she found that she was out of green wool. _Oh, shoot._ The next wool store was quite a drive away, also she had bought that green wool in London and it had been a special offer. With gritted teeth she realized that she had just been in London yesterday, to bring the kids to the train station, but she had not thought of the wool then. Well, that was annoying. Now Molly was not the type to use magic willy-nilly and to just conjure up some new wool would usually not be her style at all. But today she wanted to treat herself, so she would make an exception just that once.

She crawled out from under the Afghan that she had muffled herself into for more cosiness and got her wand. She did not have to look up the spell. There had been wool emergencies before. She planted her feet firmly on the ground. "Okay, Molly, focus...," she told herself. She was just about to say the words " _Lana Ovis Apparabam!_ " ...when out of the corner of her eye she saw that an unusually large and scrubby mouse was about to feast on her biscuits! Her focus was gone for just the tiniest moment and out came the words " _Ovis Apparabant!"_ instead – and much to Molly's trouble, the spell worked.

One sheep after another was popping up in the Weasleys' living room. On the couch, under the coffee table ... It took the flabbergasted Molly a moment to realize that it was not going to stop on its own, then she raised her wand again and shouted: " _Finite incantatem!_ " Nothing happened. " _Retentio!_ " Still nothing. Molly grew really nervous now, but tried to focus all her energy and tried again: " _Inhibite!_ " This worked - no more sheep appeared in her living room. Still, about a dozen animals were already occupying the space and some of them were just starting to eat some of the plants.

"Oh, what have I done," cried Molly. Her first thought was to somehow revert the spell and simply un-conjure the sheep. But then again – they were living things after all and kind of sweet too. One especially cute fellow with long fluffy fur sprinkled with brown dots was bleeping at her right now. No, she could not just undo them. She sat down for a moment, amidst all the sheep, and feverishly tried to come up with a solution.

"Hagrid!" she exclaimed. He knew everything about animals. If anyone, he would know what to do, plus she could trust him to not gossip about her mishap. But as far as she knew, his hut was not connected to the floo network. Sending an owl would take some time, though, so maybe she had best just apparate over there.

She briefly considered using the Gryffindor common room or the headmaster's fireplace and get one of her children to find Hagrid, but that would be awfully conspicuous and kind of complicated. She'd rather not have anyone know what happened, especially not her kids. How many times had she scolded the twins for using magic all the time for the most trivial things ... they would rub this story in her face forever if they knew!

Also, taking a little trip would fit nicely into this chaotic day. A little harmless trip all by herself... At first she had felt nonplussed and a bit helpless in this sheep situation, but now she was pleasantly excited and felt adventurous. All the time she had to be grown up and responsible and just for a moment that burden lifted, like shedding a heavy cloak. She had not felt that young in years.

"All right, Mummy's got a plan, but first let's get you fellows out of here!" she said to the sheep and patted the one nearest to her on the nose. It felt nice and fluffy and looked at her with big amber eyes.

Whistling to herself she sought out a spot behind the house that was nicely shielded from view. Arthur would not see the sheep unless he looked through a particular attic window or went into the garden shed – and she would know how to prevent that. She did not bother getting wood for fence posts but conjured a little sheep pen. Hands resolutely put on her hips she inspected her work and nodded contentedly.

By the time Molly got back to the house, although she had only been gone a quarter of an hour or so, the bouquet was gone and the sheep had wreaked considerable havoc. Well, she would see to that later. She started herding the sheep to their temporary new home in pairs of two. It took her a while to hunt them all down... primarily because she found them in the oddest places and some were not willing to move. A cluster of sheep was perched on and under the kitchen table, but some were also on the couch, innocently looking at her and eating her cookies. A little one with a brown and white flecked fur had appeared in the cupboard and she only noticed it because it was bleating most pitifully.

Having finished, Molly quickly refreshed herself and put on decent clothing. Ready to go, she elegantly waved her wand at the living room: " _Reparo._ " Satisfied that everything looked nice and inconspicuous, she went to the fireplace and clearly pronounced: "Hogsmeade, The Three Broomsticks." She felt the spinning sensation of being sucked into a vortex, and a few seconds later she came out at her destination. She quickly straightened her clothes and her hair, then briskly walked past the bar, greeting Rosmerta with a brief: "Good Morning Rosmerta, nice day, isn't it?" Barely having waited for the friendly reply, she walked out of the door and made her way toward Hagrid's cottage through the snowy winter landscape, enjoying the crisp, clear air.

Having nearly reached the gamekeeper's cosy home, she heard Hagrid's booming voice. So, he probably had visitors. She slowed down a bit, but obviously not soon enough. Fang had already heard her or caught her scent and she heard him prowling nervously and barking a few times. With a few quick steps she made for the cottage's stone wall and pressed against it like a spy, clutching her handbag closely and holding her breath. "What's the matter, Fang?" she heard Hagrid say. She could vividly imagine the tall man patting the monstrous dog on the head and throwing him some dog biscuit. Fang whined and yawned, but became quieter again.

Molly snuck along the wall and tried to glimpse into the window. She saw her son's ginger head along with Harry's dark tousled hair and Hermione's profile. Oh, for the love of Merlin, of all people at all times _they_ had to be here now! Usually, she would not have minded waiting, but she was pressed for time and also it was really cold. She waited for Hagrid to look her way, then showed her face in the window, finger conspiratorially put over her mouth, begging him for silence. The first time he did not see her, but at her second attempt she was successful. Soon after, she heard Hagrid make an excuse – something about having to look after his garden or so (Molly shook her had, Hagrid was probably the worst liar on the planet). She took the cue and vanished behind the house.

As she watched the group depart, it was hard for her not to start giggling – if only they knew! As soon as it felt safe, she came around and was greeted by a baffled Hagrid. He looked as if he thought something along the lines of "Oh no, I hope she does not come to complain about something that I showed or said to Ron."

"Morning Molly. Good to see you, although admittedly a bit unexpected. Come in," he said.

"Good morning Hagrid. Thank you for picking up my clue," Molly said warmly as she entered the cottage. Hagrid helped her out of her heavy wooden cloak and ushered her to a comfortable armchair near the fireplace.

"You want something to drink? I think there is still some hot chocolate left."

"Oh, I would love that," said Molly, "it is a cold day and I walked here from Hogsmeade."

After they were both seated and provided with steaming cups of hot chocolate, Hagrid looked at her expectantly. "Well," she started, "I came to you because I have an animal related situation at home and hope that you have some advice. But" – she paused – "I really need to rely on your discretion."

"Alright, you can count on me," Hagrid said and so she explained the whole story: How it had begun with her wanting some wool and ended up with a bunch of sheep... right to the point where she had finally carried the cute little flecked one out of the cabinet and into the sheep pen. "You should have seen the look on its face," she said. Hagrid tried to look serious but the further her story progressed the more his eyes began to twinkle and he could barely hide his amusement. Also, he seemed surprised and Molly could see that he saw her in a different light than when she had come through the door just a short while ago.

When she was finished, there was a moment of silence. "Well?" she asked. Hagrid stroked his beard pensively. "I don't know, Molly. Of course I could help you get rid of the sheep. We could get them up here – no one notices a few sheep more or less in the highlands. But are you sure this is what you want? The way you talked about them, I feel that you are quite fond of them."

Molly felt that she had been caught red-handed: "You found me out. I do really like them, and just imagine, I could even get some real home made wool!" she said fondly. "But how to sell this to Arthur and the kids without telling them everything?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure you will figure it out. I tell you what: You can see how Arthur would feel about the idea this evening and if you really have to get rid of them after that, you just floo me and we will arrange a rescue plan."

"Thank you ever so much, Hagrid. You are a real life-saver!" Molly cordially shook the kind giant's hand and he warmly said: "Any time, Molly. Goodbye and get home safely."

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 _Some hours later at the Burrow_

When Arthur arrived, the living room and kitchen were nicely cleaned up, his favourite meal was waiting for him on the table and his wife looked absolutely lovely. Not only had she put on that especially nice dress that she knew he liked, but she also had something so vivid and sparkling about her... He did not know what it was, but he absolutely felt like they were in their teens again and freshly in love. "Hello Darling," he said to her.

They had a lovely dinner. He told her about his day at work, some annoying colleague and an exciting Muggle device that had recently been invented – it was like a phone but you could also take photographs with it – and a lot more.

"And how was your day, darling? Did you get some rest? It looks as if you cleaned the house..."

Molly took her husband's hand into hers. "Oh, don't worry, love, I had a splendid day, very enjoyable... and I had some time to think and had an idea. How do you feel about keeping some sheep?"

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Many years later Ron and Hermione were standing at the sheep pen behind the Burrow with their little daughter. Seeing the sheep was always the main attraction when visiting granny. While the child was occupied with feeding the sheep and patting as many noses as she could get a hold on, Ron and Hermione stood there arm in arm and watched.

"Ron, how did you parents get the idea of having sheep in the first place? I don't even remember when, but it seemed like they were suddenly there."

"Huh, I honestly don't know. It was probably one of those crazy ideas my mum gets from time to time."

\- THE END –


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